Seniors increase tech knowledge

Friday

May 10, 2013 at 6:55 AMMay 10, 2013 at 8:37 AM

For anyone who thinks today's teens have their heads in a cloud, senior citizens do, and they want to go there, too; asked what they wanted to learn at this year's technology program, the Cloud was at the top of the list for these older residents.

SUSAN JORSTAD

For anyone who thinks today's teens have their heads in a cloud, senior citizens do, and they want to go there, too.

Asked what they wanted to learn at this year's technology program, the Cloud was at the top of the list for these older residents.

East Stroudsburg Area School District's e-Team — a collaboration of technology instructors and students from both high schools — is in its sixth year of providing technology outreach workshops to the community. On May 6, the e-Team held its third exclusive program for RSVP volunteers, in recognition of Senior Corps Week as 20 RSVP members participated.

"This time we're doing Skype, Digital Photo Organization, Tablets and e-Readers and Saving to the Cloud," said Merle Turitz, director of the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, popularly known as RSVP. "I put it out to a vote with 500 volunteers on my email list — those were the top four. The fact that I have 500 seniors on my distribution list tells you, they are (plugged in to technology).

"We do a lot online. They save paper, they save postage, it gets here the same day. Not only did they have those four options, they could bring their own devices and get one-on-one instruction with the kids, and they look forward to that. It's like watching a kid at Christmas. You learn so much because the kids are just so eloquent."

Fifteen students from the East Stroudsburg high schools led small group presentations on the four chosen topics, followed by one-on-one instruction with the seniors, who brought with them their own devices.

"It's an online file center where you can upload any important file — documents, videos, pictures — to store it and know they're safe and you're not gonna lose them," said Nikolay Atanassov, an East Strodusburg High School South freshman and Matthew Horton, a North sophomore, to a group of seven seniors.

There are dozens of Cloud providers, including Apple's iCloud (which lets you sync Apple devices), Dropbox (more universal, for both i-devices and androids), Google Drive (more business oriented; a good choice if you need to store a lot of photos), Amazon Cloud Drive (for Kindles) and Microsoft Sky Drive (offers the most free initial storage at 7 GB). Most of those options provide 5 GB free storage; you can get additional storage for an annual fee.

"Is it easy to create an account, and which one should I pick?" asked Rita McNeal.

"Yes, and you can specify that you only want to save pictures, not documents, as automatic backup," said Atanassov.

"For a laptop, you might choose Windows Sky Account if you need a lot of storage, or Windows Dropbox if you don't need a lot," Horton said.

The students assisted the seniors individually with setting up accounts.

"Are there certain documents you should not save to the Cloud, for security reasons — like documents with your Social Security number?" someone asked.

"Cloud storage is saved with pretty advanced protection software, but there is always a chance of hacking, so you might want to be selective," said Atanassov.

"I personally have all my files on Google Drive and Dropbox, and I trust them," said Joe Martin, technology instructor. "Next year, our school district will be jumping onboard with student and teacher Google accounts."

Free Library for e-Readers

Another popular topic was Tablets and e-Readers, with many seniors eager to borrow library books on their devices.

The Philadelphia Free Library has a mobile application called Overdrive, which lets users access books from any device, said technology instructor Brooke Langan, adding that anyone with a Monroe Public Library card is eligible to use the Philadelphia Free Library.

"Monroe has a lot of different options, such as Access, but it's difficult to use," Langan said. "You have to access it from a computer and then transfer to your devices. I asked them, 'Why don't you use Overdrive?' They told me it costs $10,000 and then $150 per book on top of that. It's like a $10,000 Coke machine, and you have to pay to keep filling it. The problem with the cheaper versions is they're cumbersome for people who want to do it on the go."

Monroe Public Library does offer Freading and One Click Digital, which have the option of audio e-books. Langan and students helped many of the RSVP volunteers get onto Overdrive in less than five minutes.

Intergenerational program

"Everybody thinks seniors are so afraid of technology and they're not, they're like sponges," Langan said. "They just absorb everything, and they're just amazed. The best part of it is that the experts are the kids, having the kids do the training.

"It's just incredible to watch the reversal of roles where the kids are the teachers and the seniors are the students. Kids think anybody over 30 is old and that they're just sitting around and can't learn any more. And seniors, we're watching these kids walk around with headphones, texting. So they have their own preconceptions.

"Together, the seniors realize, 'Wow, these kids can teach me something,' and they're communicating well, and the kids see that the seniors, their brains still work and they have an interest, and they are nice people and they can talk to one another. To me, it's the core of what is happening, getting people to talk to one another. For a lot of the kids, their grandparents don't live here, so it's really nice to have the interaction."